Display box

ABSTRACT

A display box comprising a base provided with a sidewall, and a hollow cover pivotally mounted on one end face of the sidewall of the base by pivot members, the base and the cover constituting two separate parts, the pivot members comprising two protruding pins integral with one of the parts, and two oval holes in the other of the parts for receiving the pins. The base (1) comprises a lower peripheral flange (13) connected to the lower part of its sidewall (12) on which rests the cover (2) in a closed position and an opening in the region of said end face (121)in the vicinity of the flange for avoiding any blocking of the cover before it attains its open position. The box is applicable to the packaging and the display of luxury articles such as perfumery articles.

The present invention relates to display boxes, notably display boxesintended for packaging and display of luxury articles such as perfumeryarticles.

An object of the invention is to devise a display box having a smartappearance and good sturdiness while being of easy manufacture and lowcost price owing notably to the possibility of manufacturing the boxwith the help of machines with a minimum of manual intervention.

To this end the invention relates to a display box of the typecomprising a base adapted to receive an article to be displayed andprovided with a sidewall and a lower peripheral flange, and a hollowcover, the hollow cover being pivotally mounted on an end face of thesidewall of the base between a closed position in which it rests againstthe peripheral flange thereof surrounding its sidewall and an openposition in which it disengages at least partially the base whilepermitting the displayed article to be seen, the display box beingcharacterized in that the base and the cover comprise two separateparts, the pivot members comprising on the one hand two protruding pinsintegral with one of said parts, on the other hand two holes or throughslots for receiving said pins formed in the other of said parts, andmeans for permitting opening of the box comprising an ovaling of saidholes, that is, their formation as slots, and an opening in the regionof said end face of the sidewall of the base at least in the vicinity ofsaid flange. This structure permits the sought advantages to be obtainedand an easy maneuvering of the box toward the open or closed position.

In a particular embodiment, the protruding pins are integral with thebase and the two holes are formed in the cover.

According to interesting features of the invention the base comprises asupport provided with a sidewall having an opening in the region of anend face and a lower peripheral flange, and a frame provided with asidewall having two protruding pins and also an opening and an upperinwardly folded flange, the sidewall of the frame surrounding thesidewall of the support, and a plate provided with at least one windowforming the receptacle for the article to be displayed, said plate beingmaintained at the upper part of the support between the support meanssuch as vertical ribs integral with the interior part of the sidewall ofthe support and the upper flange of the frame, while the cover comprisesan inner element provided with ovaled holes, that is, through slotsadapted to receive the pins on the base, whose length is at leastapproximately equal to the length of the pins of the base, and an outerelement covering the inner wall element which is nonperforate at thelocation of the holes. This design of the base permits the packaging ofa wide variety of articles with the help of only several types of base;the design selected for the cover itself permits a great diversity ofdisplay as a function of the nature and appearance of the outer wallelement used.

The features and advantages of the invention will moreover be broughtout in the description which follows, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a display box according to the invention showndiagrammatically, in the open position, a region of the cover being cutaway to show the general shape of the base;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the same display box shown diagrammatically, inthe closed position, the cover being shown in longitudinal section;

FIG. 3 shows in perspective the three parts constituting the base in thepreferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a top view of the two elements constituting the cover in apreferred embodiment of the invention, before forming the cover byfolding.

The display box of the invention shown diagrammatically in FIGS. 1 and 2comprises a base 1 intended to receive an article to be displayed and ahollow cover 2 made of two separate parts.

The base 1 itself comprises a base plate 11 and a sidewall 12 placed onthe base plate 11, and of slightly smaller dimensions than it, so that aperipheral flange 13 is defined along the perimeter of the base plate11; the base plate here is of rectangular shape, and the general shapeof the sidewall is therefore also rectangular; proximate to one of theends of the sidewall 12 are two pins 14 protruding outwardly from thewall respectively on both sides of the base; these two pins 14, herecylindrical, placed proximate to an end face 121 of the sidewall 12 arelocated in the continuation of each other to determine an axis aboutwhich the cover 2 is pivotally mounted with respect to the base 1,between a closed position in which it rests against the peripheralflange 13 while surrounding the sidewall 12 (i.e., where it snuglycovers the base 1) and an open position in which it permits thedisplayed article to be seen and in which for this purpose it disengagesthe base 1 except in the region of the pivot axis.

The cover 2 comprises a top 21 and a sidewall 22 which, being adapted inthe closed position to snugly cover the base 1, has the same generalshape as the sidewall 12 of said base, with the interior dimensionshardly greater than the exterior dimensions of the sidewall 12. In orderto receive the protruding pins of the sidewall 12 of the base 1, thesidewall 22 of the cover 2 has two through slots or ovaled holes 23.

Nevertheless it is necessary to provide appropriate additional means foropening the box. In particular, in order that the cover 2 may not behindered by the base 1 in its pivoting with respect to the samefollowing the blocking of the lower edge 221 of the sidewall 22 by thebase plate 11 in the region of the end face 121 proximate to which arethe pins 14, an appropriate means may consist in that this pivoting doesnot reduce to mere rotation, but is constituted by rotation accompaniedwith a slight translation of the two parts one relative to the other;further, in order that the cover 2 may not be hindered by the base 1following the blocking of the lower edge of the side wall 22 of thecover 2 by the sidewall 12 of the base 1, an appropriate means mayconsist in that the sidewall 12 of the base 1 has an opening in theregion of the end face 121 at least in the vicinity of the peripheralflange 12. Practically speaking, the translation accompanying therotation of the cover 1 with respect to the base 2 is obtained by anovaling of the holes 23, the axis of the oval being inclined downwardlyand towards the front of the display box when the latter is in itsclosed position, the cover 2 bearing against the base 1; the opening inthe region of the end face 121 is located over the entire length thereofat its lower part, and continues to the rear part of the two faces ofthe sidewall 12 of base 1 which are joined thereto; in order to stop themovement of the cover 2 to an open limit position it is possible toprovide on each one of the faces on which the opening is continued, anabutment edge 122 for the lower edge 221 of the sidewall of the cover 2,in order that this position may be stable even when the box is inclined,it may also be provided that the width of the faces at this location isgreater than a minimum appropriate value.

Since the cover 2 is provided of relatively flexible material, themounting of the cover 2 on the base 1 is effected simply by force, bymoving apart its sidewall 22 and leaving the sidewall resume its shapewhen the pins 14 are engaged in said holes 23; the opening of the box isdone by making the cover 2 undergo a slight upwards translation at thesame time as rotation with respect to the base 1.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the base 1 comprises a support 1A, aplate 1B and a frame 1C.

The support 1A comprises a base plate 11A and a sidewall 12A here havinga generally rectangular configuration, but having only three faces, thelocation of the fourth face being totally freed by the opening intendedto permit opening of the box; further, the two faces delimiting thelocation of the eliminated end face each comprise a notch thuscontinuing the opening along the lower part of these two faces, thisnotch being limited by an abutment edge 122A. Since the exteriordimensions of the sidewall 12A are smaller than those of the base plate11A, the support comprises a peripheral flange 13A having preferably awidth the thickness of the cover so that there is no overhanging part.The sidewall 12A also comprises vertical ribs 15A integral with itslower part and the base plate 11A; these vertical ribs adapted tosupport the plate 1B may extend for example perpendicularly to the faceswith which they are integral. The support 1A may be of any relativelyrigid material, but for most applications, plastic materials orcardboard are particularly suitable, notably, polystyrene, taking intoaccount the low cost of manufacture they involve; this piece may bemanufactured for example by injection.

The plate 1B, adapted to position the article to be displayed, compriseshere for this purpose, where the box is intended for packaging anddisplay of a single article having a rectangular contour, a window 16Bforming a receptacle for this article; or course, the window 16B mayhave any shape adapted to the article or articles to be displayed, andthe plate 1B may comprise plural windows if the article so requires, oralso if the display box is intended to contain a plurality of articles.This plate 1B may be of any nearly rigid material as a function of thedesired appearance, for example of cardboard or plastic material whetherinjected or not.

The frame 1C comprises a sidewall 12C itself also having a generallyrectangular configuration, of dimensions slightly greater than those ofthe sidewall 12A of the support 1A in order to be able to be immobilizedtherearound; this sidewall here comprises four faces, but the end face121C corresponding to the location of the fourth face totally freed bythe opening of the sidewall 12A of the support 1A is provided with anopening at its lower part; further, the sidewall 12C of the frame 1Ccomprises on its two faces adjacent its end face 121C, a notchcontinuing the opening in this end face 121C along the lower part ofthese two faces, this notch being limited by an abutment edge 122C; ofcourse, it is possible to provide that only the sidewall 12A of thesupport 1A or only the sidewall 12C of the frame 1C comprises anabutment edge. The faces adjacent the end face 121C each comprise a pin14C proximate to this end face, these pins, as seen in this part of thedescription relative to FIGS. 1 and 2, protruding outwardly and situatedin the continuation of one another. In order that the plate 1B may beheld in the base 1 without escaping upwards the frame 1C comprises anupper flange 17C folded inwardly. This frame 1C may also be of plasticmaterial, for example, injected, or of any other suitable material suchas cardboard.

The mounting of the base 1 is particularly simple since it suffices toplace the plate 1B on the support 1A, then slide the frame 1C around thesidewall 12A of the support 1A, its upper flange 17C consequently beingopposite the peripheral flange 13A of the support 1A. It may be providedto fix by any appropriate means, for example, by glueing, welding ordetenting the frame 1C to the support 1A, or even not to fix these twopieces to each other notably if their fit is sufficiently snug; whenthese two pieces are immobilized relative to each other, the plate 1B ismaintained in position at the upper part of the support 1A.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the cover 2 comprises an innerelement 2A and an outer element 2B adapted to overlay it, giving it thedesired appearance.

The inner element 2A is a "blank" made from a sheet, here of cardboardof cross shape whose central part 21A is intended to constitute the top,and the arms 221A, 222A, 223A, 224A intended to constitute the sidewall;in order that once the arms are folded along the broken line in FIG. 4,the cover may snugly cap the base, the central part 21A has dimensionsslightly greater than the exterior dimensions of the sidewall of thebase; in order that the sidewall of the inner element 2A may have aconstant height, the four arms 221A, 222A, 223A, 224A have the samelength, greater than the height of the sidewall of the base as afunction of the article that the box is intended to receive. Two opposedarms of the cross are provided symmetrically with through slots or holes23A ovaled so that once the arms are folded, the cover may pivot asdescribed in the part of the description relative to FIGS. 1 and 2. Thethickness of the sheet is at least approximately equal to the length ofthe pins, here of the order of 1.3 millimeter, when there is an outerelement 2B covering even the ovaled holes 23A; they may be smaller thanin the contrary case.

The outer element 2B is a "blank" made from a sheet, in general thinner,here of a paper-plastic material complex about several tenths of amillimeter thick, having the same cross section as the sheetconstituting the inner element 2A, but further comprising foldableflaps. Thus, the outer element 2B has a central part 21B and four arms221B, 222B, 223B, 224B; at least two arms 221B, 223B comprise side tabs225B (here two side tabs per arm) and the arms also comprise end tabs226B. Whereupon, after folding the inner element 2A, since the four armsbeing folded perpendicularly to the central part so that their edgesface one another in pairs, the outer element 2B coated with an adhesiveon one side, at least in the region of the foldable tabs, is glued tothe element 2A on the outside thereof; the end tabs 226B which areadapted to be glued to the arms of the inner element 2A provided withovaled holes 23A have a notch in this region, in such a manner that theholes 23A are closed off only on the outer face of the cover 2 in orderto permit the passage of the pins 14.

Generally speaking it is necessary that the pins 14 not be too close tothe end face 121 of the sidewall 12 and the peripheral flange 13 of thebase 1 in order that the ovaled holes 23 of the cover may not be tooclose to the edges of said cover to avoid tears in the cover.

Of course the invention is not limited to the shape and the embodimentdescribed and shown above, and other shapes and embodiments may beprovided; for example, a cover of a single element may be provided, oreven, whereas the above described shape comprised a base provided with aperipheral flange permitting the box to be easily wrapped in cellophaneautomatically, a much greater or on the contrary nonexistent peripheralflange may be provided without departing from the scope of theinvention. Likewise, in the illustrated example, the cover is hinged onthe base parallel to the short side, but an articulation parallel to thelong side may just as well be provided or any other appropriate fashion.

I claim:
 1. Display box comprising a base adapted to receive an articleto be displayed and having an upstanding sidewall, and a hollow cover,the base and the cover comprising two separate parts, means pivotallymounting said cover at the rear on said base for swinging movementbetween a closed position in which said cover surrounds said sidewalland an upright open position in which it at least partially disengagessaid base for permitting the article to be viewed, said means pivotallymounting said cover comprising two laterally protruding pins integralwith one of said parts and two complementary through slots for receivingsaid pins formed in the other of said parts, said base having asubstantially flat lower peripheral flange joined to and extendingoutwardly from under said sidewall, said lower peripheral flange beingin engagement with the free edge of said cover in the closed position ofsaid cover substantially along the entire flange, there being an openingextending along a rear wall portion of said sidewall and into rear partsof lateral wall portions of said sidewall adjacent said flange forpermitting said cover to be pivoted to its open position in which theouter surface of the rear of said cover bears along a correspondingportion of said peripheral flange.
 2. Display box according to claim 1,wherein said protruding pins are integral with said base and said slotsare formed in the cover.
 3. Display box according to claim 11, whereinsaid base comprises a support including a sidewall with an open rear endand a base plate defining said lower peripheral flange, and a frameincluding a sidewall, said protruding pins being integral with saidframe sidewall, and an inwardly folded flange extending from the upperedge of said frame sidewall, said frame sidewall surrounding saidsupport sidewall and defining said base sidewall.
 4. Display boxaccording to claim 3, wherein the width of said peripheral flange issubstantially equal to the thickness of the portion of said coversurrounding said base sidewall.
 5. Display box according to claim 3,wherein said base further comprises a plate having at least one windowdefining a space for receiving the article to be displayed, said platebeing sandwiched between the upper edges of vertical ribs connected tosaid support sidewall and said inwardly folded flange of said frame. 6.Display box according to claim 1, wherein said cover comprises an innerelement in which said through slots are formed, the thickness of theportion of said inner element surrounding said through slots beingsubstantially equal to the length of said pins, and an outer elementcovering said inner element in nonperforate in line with said slots insaid inner element.
 7. Display box according to claim 1, wherein saidbase is made of injected plastic material.
 8. Display box according toclaim 7, wherein said cover is made at least in part of cardboard. 9.Display box according to claim 1, wherein said opening extends along theentire rear wall portion of said base sidewall for receiving thecorresponding lower margin of the rear wall of said cover in said openposition.
 10. Display box according to claim 1, wherein an abutment edgeis formed by the forward end of said opening in the rear parts of saidlateral wall portions for engagement with the edge of the rear wall ofsaid cover in the open position.
 11. Display box according to claim 1,wherein said opening in the rear parts of said lateral wall portion issized to maintain said cover in its open position even when the box isinclined.